Chelsea Manning Shows Look as Woman After Prison Release

Manning will also be able to stay in the Army and will be eligible for military benefits.

Aside from a grainy, black-and-white selfie snapped in a vehicle before she went to prison at age 22 - over seven years ago - the public has never seen a photo of Manning presenting as a woman.

After being arrested in 2010, she pursued a transgender rights case in prison and attempted suicide twice previous year, according to her legal team. Leavenworth, Kansas on Wednesday, after being imprisoned since 2010. "The transgender soldier served seven years of a 35-year sentence for giving government secrets to WikiLeaks", touted Anchor Scott Pelley in a news brief during CBS Evening News.

In a statement last week - her first public comments since Obama intervened - Manning thanked that former president and said that letters of support from veterans and fellow transgender people inspired her "to work toward making life better for others".

Neither she nor her attorneys explained why, but she has an aunt who lives there.

In an exclusive statement to ABC News before her release Wednesday, Manning said, "I appreciate the wonderful support that I have received from so many people across the world over these past years. I'm figuring things out right now - which is exciting, awkward, fun, and all new for me". The lawsuit claims Manning is at a high risk of self-castration and suicide unless she receives more focused treatment for gender dysphoria, and that she is getting psychotherapy from a mental health specialist who lacks the qualifications to treat gender dysphoria.

Manning took to Twitter after her release, photographing her "first steps of freedom" in civilian clothes. Manning, who was known as Bradley Manning before transitioning, was convicted in 2013 of 20 counts, including six Espionage Act violations. In 2010, Manning leaked an impressive number of documents detailing the way the USA military and government violated the rights of many.

Although Manning has been somewhat quiet while in prison, she has done some press. The film is titled "XY Chelsea" and will be directed by British filmmaker Tim Travers Hawkins and executive produced by "Citizenfour" filmmaker Laura Poitras.

Speaking to the BBC, Manning's friend, the journalist Glenn Greenwald - who was involved in the publication of leaks from Edward Snowden - said she faced a hard life outside prison. Hawkins has followed her legal team since 2014. Days after Obama granted her commutation, Manning wrote an op-ed for The Guardian arguing that Obama hadn't been progressive enough during his presidency.

The U.S. Army says Pvt.

As a prisoner at the US Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth in Kansas, she had to conform to male grooming standards before her 3 a.m. ET release.

"Part of the reason that the White House justified granting her clemency was because it was so much longer than other recent leak sentences".